Novelty greeting card



y 4, 1953 A. BARKER 2,645,481

NOVELTY GREETING CARD 4 Filgd Feb. 28, 1949 I N VEN TOR.

latented July 14, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE --2,e45,4s1 1 I NOVELTY GREET ING CARD Alvin Barker, Cincinnati, Ohio Application February 28, 1949, Serial No. 78,737

Claims. (o1. 272--27 The present invention relates to novelty greeting cards or folders, and has for its main object the provision of an action device associated in a novel manner with certain features of a folded greeting card whereby upon opening of the card or folder, a novel efiect is insured.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a greeting card or folder having at least two hinged sections, an improved and simplified hand striking member mounted on one of the sections and normally held between the closed sections in set position; in combination with a hand positioning cutout means in the remaining section which insures that the hand will be in proper position on the first mentioned section for engagement by the striking member when the card or folder is opened.

With these and other objects in view'my invention consists in certain details of construction and combination of'parts set forth in the following specification, shown in the accompanying drawing and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my greeting card or folder in opened condition. I

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the front of the greeting card or folder of Fig. 1 shown in its closed condition. 4

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the greeting card or folder in opened fiat condition. 7

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section taken on line 4--4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

My invention is particularly applicable 'to novelty greeting cards or action folders, and, as illustrated in the drawings, is preferably associated with a greeting card formed from an illustrated sheet folded lengthwise at 8 and crosswise at 9 to provide two sections In and II each having two piles. The sections I 0 and H are hinged along their adjacent sides I2 and I3 respectively by the material of the sheet, and each of the sections is reenforced by an independent stiffening sheet Hl, which is disposed between the plies of each section and is secured thereto by a suitable'adhesive, or the like.

With particular reference to section II, which may be termed the base section, there is piv otally mounted on its interior side a spring actuated hand striking member having oscillatory movement between an operative or sprung position'illustrated in Figs. 1, 3 and 5, and an opposed, normal set position illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawing. The hand striking member 15 is preferably formed from a length of round stock that is bent to provide a long arm 1 IS, a short arm I! and an intermediate hand engaging straight portion l'8; the latter having an acute angular relation with the arm [6 and an obtuse angular position with respect to arm H. The pivotal ends I9 and 20 of the arms 16 and I! respectively are preferably turned inwardly toward one another at right angles to said arms and are engaged in socket eyes 2| and 22 struck from plate 2 3 that is secured bystrips of an adhesive tape 24 to the interiorly disposed surface of the reenforcing member I4 at an inclination to the sides thereof. As most clearly illustrated in Fig. 3, the ply of the illustrated sheet, which serves as the interior cover for the base section II, is provided with a pair of spaced openings 25 and 26 through which the socket eyes of the bearing plate project so that the latter may freely receive the pivoted ends 19 and 20 of the hand striking member 15, whilst the bearing plate is concealed by the said ply.

The member I5 is biased toward its hand striking position illustrated in Figs. 1, 3 and 5 of the drawing by a spring 21, which encircles the pivotal end l9 andhas its one end bearing upon the section II and its opposed end hooked at 28 to the arm [6.

With particular reference to Fig. 3, it will be noted that the pivotal bearings for the hand striking member I'5 are inclined with respect to the free lateral edge portion 29 of the base section I], and, that the member has opposed arms of different lengths extending from their respective pivotal connections that provide a hand striking portion l8, which in hand striking position is parallel to the lateral edge 29 and is positioned a considerable distance beyond said edge. The inclined pivotal mounting provides for a maximum throw of the striking member for the card while insuring that a portion of the member will be positioned adjacent the fold 9 when the member is in normally set position. Furthermore, the inclination of the pivotal mounting provides a means whereby in sprung position the striking member extends be yond the edge 29 of the base section to insure a hand striking action and at the same time provide a means for effectively securing the bent end of the long arm l6 between the sides l2 and I3 of the sections adjacent the fold 9 of the card when the member is in its normally set a position.

The section 10, which may be referred to as the pivoted section of the card has a cutout portion 30 in its lateral free edge 3| and it will be noted that said cutout portion carries out the lines of the illustration on the front face of the folder, and that when the card is closed the said cutout portion overlies and exposes the area on the base section which the thumb striking member occupies when it is in its sprung position. The cutout portion therefore exposes the marginal portion of section II along its lateral edge 29 to form a thumb engaging portion 32 for the section when the greeting card is to be opened.

My novelty card or folder may therefore assume a normal condition for mailing in a container, or the like, by setting the hand striking member in the position indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 3 and thereafter folding section l upon section I I into the closed position indicated in Figs. 2 and 4, whereby the marginal portions l2 and [3 of the sections positively catch and hold the member against movement in its said set position. The weight of the sections, which are materially increased by the presence of the reenforc'ing members and the disposition of the free end of the long arm it of the member adjacent the fold 9 between the sections cooperate to more than counteract the force of the spring urged arm to open the folder and thereby preclude accidental opening of the card under normal handling conditions.

As has been said, the spring 21 biases the hand striking member toward its sprung or hand striking position illustrated in Figs. 1, 3 and of the drawings, and, when it is desired to open the card,

4 with its free end held between the hinged common sides of the sections.

3. An article of the class described comprising an illustrated sheet folded to form two sections each having two plies, an independent stiffening sheet secured between the plies of each section, a bearing plate secured on the inner side of a stiffening sheet and inclined thereon with respect to the lateral edges of the sections, a pair of socket eyes formed on one side of the plate adjacent opposite ends thereof, the inner ply of one section being provided with spaced openings through which the eyes project, a U-shaped hand striking member having opposed arms of different lengths pivoted at their ends in the eyes and interconnected across their free ends by a hand contacting bar, and a spring mounted on an arm and adapted to bias the arm toward hand conholes formed through the inner ply of the base the thumb of the right hand is guided to and will grasp the hand engaging portion 32 because of the presence of the cutout portion 30 in section l0, whereby upon opening of the card, the thumb striking member will be released from between the section and strike the positioned thumb-of the hand with a light tapping action, to insure a sudden and novel effect for my greeting card or folder.

What is claimed is: Y

1. A greeting card comprising a pair of stiff sections hinged along adjacent sides and normally disposed in proximate, face-to-face positions, a thumb positioning cutout formed in the free edge of one section to expose a marginal portion ,of the free edge portion of the remaining section,

and a spring pressed, thumb striking member pivotally mounted on an intermediate portion of the interior face of said section for oscillatory movement between a sprung position with its free end overlapping the exposed portion, and an opposed spring loaded position with its free end'adjacent the hinge and caught between adjacent faces of the sections.

2. A greeting card comprising a stiff base section, a stiff, pivoted section overlying the said base section, a hinge pivotally connecting common sides of the sections, a cutout portion formed in the edge of the free side portion of the pivoted section to provide thumb engagement with the marginal portion of the free side of the base section exposed by the cutout, and a spring loaded, thumb striking member pivotally mounted on an intermediate portion of the interior face of the said base section for oscillatory movement between a sprung position with its free end overlapping the exposed thumb engaging portion of the base section, and an opposed loaded position section and disposed at different distances from the free lateral edge of the section, eye sockets on the stiffening member for the base section and projecting through said openings, a U-shaped hand striking member having a long and a short arm each pivotally mounted in an eye socket, a hand engaging portion connecting the outer free ends of the arms and movable thereby between an operative position with the hand engaging portion disposed parallel to and beyond the lateral edge of the base and a normal set position with at least one end of the hand engaging portion between the sections adjacent the hinge, and means for biasing the hand striking member toward its said operative position.

5. In an article of the class described the combination of an illustrated sheet folded to form a base section and a pivoted section each having two plies, an independent stiffening sheet secured between the plies of each of said sections, a cutout formed in the edge of the free side portion of the pivoted section to provide thumb engagement with the marginal portion of the free side of the base section exposed by the cutout, a pair of spaced holes formed through the inner ply of the base section and disposed at difierent distances from the free side of said section, eye sockets on the stiffening member of the base section projecting through said openings, a U-shaped thumb striking member having a long and a short arm each pivotally mounted in an eye socket, a thumb engaging portion connecting the outer free ends of the arms and movable thereby between an operative position with the said portion disposed parallel to and beyond the marginal portion of the base section exposed by the cutout to a normal set position with at least one end of the thumb engaging portion between the sections adjacent the fold therefor, and spring means for biasing the thumb striking member toward its said operative position.

ALVIN BARKER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 525,740 Knight Sept. 11, 1894 1,065,497 Bartl June 24, 1913 1,936,150 Adams Nov. 21, 1933 

